


Memento Mori

by thatswhatshegayd



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, i wrote this with a friend 2 years ago sooo, this is a clean version of it and i made it better winks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-22 00:45:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8266492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatswhatshegayd/pseuds/thatswhatshegayd
Summary: Nico has just lost his sister, Bianca. He thought it couldn't get any worse, until he moved to America and was faced with a fact about himself that he didn't even know about. Feeling many kinds of jumbled up emotions, he thinks there is only one way out. But when he is about to do something regrettable he meets the boy that could save him, Percy. It's not like he asked to be a demigod.





	1. Flashback

**Author's Note:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback nonsense. Basically, a nightmare that happened to come true too soon.

_It's towards the end of the summer in my home country, Italy. My big sister Bianca, my mother and I live in a small house located in the middle of Venice. I'm 15 and Bianca is 17._

_It was quite hot today so Bianca and I decided that we should just go outside, run around and have fun. She has the great idea that we should have a water balloon war, so she went back inside, and came back outside not 5 minutes later with at least 12 water-filled balloons._

_"You better run!" she smirks. Before I can respond, she's chasing me with a blue balloon in hand. I run out into the road to get away when I hear her yell, "Nico, NO!"_

_I looked to my left to see a delivery truck speeding towards me so quick I don't think I can move away in time. As soon as I thought it was the end for me, I feel someone push me out of the way._

_I stumble and fall onto my back. I look where I had been previously standing, to see the truck stopped with... Bianca underneath it._

_"BIANCA!" I ran to where she lay and pull her out. I sit down with her laying with her head on my lap. With my trembling hands I cup her face. "B-Bianca, can you hear me?" I ask frantically._

_"Y-you're my little soldier..." she said slowly._

_"Call 113, HELP!" I yelled to no one in particular. I see someone that lived beside us run out with their phone to their ear._

_"Stay with me!" I say._

_"Y-you're the reason I live... D-don't forget me." She wheezed out._

_"No... No, you're going to make it, okay?! You will!" I say, tears running down my cheeks like a waterfall._

_"Y-you are my sunshine, my... Only sunshine," I sing. This was the song we sing to each other when one of us is sad._

_"I-I love you, Nico." She sucked in a breath._

"Y-you'll never know dear, how much I love you... S-so please don't t-take my sunshine away..." I whisper. I hear the sirens of an ambulance roar in the distance. And that was when I know its reality and she is really gone.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> American school? What's American school? That seems like a solid question to ask when you're from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

That happened exactly 2 months and 3 days ago. My mother decided it was good for the both of us if we moved to America. A place called New York, to be exact. She got a new job as a baker, making pastries 9 - 5, while I go to Artemis Prep high school. If you didn't know already, it's a private school. My mother thought it was a good idea to go to a private school after what happened in Rome. She said I was "depressed" and "needed to tell my feelings to someone."

So she sent me to a shrink.

The shrink has proscribed me to these anti-depressants. She saw the scars on my wrists and instantly thought I was "unstable." I used to wear colourful shirts and blue jeans, but now my wardrobe has changed to everything black.

Today was the first day of school, and I guess you could say I was anything but ready. My hair hadn't been cut in 5 months. It was about to my chin, black and tangled. There are dark and noticeable bags under my eyes. I wore the issued black jeans and dark blue long sleeve, but I also put on my Aviator jacket. I also put on a few bracelets of a few bands from back in Italy. I couldn't forget to put on the two most important things: the ring and necklace given to me by Bianca. The ring was a grey skull, and the necklace was black with the letter 'B' written in white on it.

" _Nico, are you ready to go?_ " my mother said loudly from down the hall.

" _Oh, yeah._ " I yelled back.

I grabbed my black backpack from its position on my bedroom floor, and hefted it over my shoulders. I slipped on my black and white converse and headed to the front door while my mother grabbed her keys. It's been hard for my mother and I to get used to America. Driving on the left side of the road, the different accents and money, things like that. My mother has been driving a rental car ever since we got here, and we both get in on the wrong side every time.

" _Let's go so you aren't late,_ " she says, hurrying to the rental. She's about to get in on the wrong side when she catches herself, and quickly gets into the right side. I cracked a small smile, and got in the passenger seat.

By the time we got there, I was 5 minutes late.

" _Bye Nico, I'll see you later, make some friends!_ " she smiled.

" _Okay mama,_ " I said, placing my backpack on my back securely.

" _Love you!_ " she said while I closed the car door.

" _Love you, too._ " I gave her a very small smile, before walking up to the main double doors. I looked back in time to see my mother driving off. It's now or never.

I pushed open one of the doors, immediately hearing the loud buzz of teenage voices talking to one another. I looked so out of place among the happy looking people, most with blond or brunette hair, unlike me with my black hair. I also noticed all of them had strong American accents; but what can you expect at an American school?


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

As I walked down the corridor, all eyes turned to me. I heard whispers as I walked by all the teens. But the problem was that I couldn't understand a single word they said. As I walked by, I made eye contact with a bleach blonde-haired girl. She giggled and blushed slightly. She was wearing dark clothing with a band I could not identify on her shirt. She stuck out her tongue closed one eye and put up the horn handed sign.

A shocked expression showed on my face. She instantly stopped. After that I headed down the corridor to the office to get my locker number and class schedule.

Once I got there, there was a lady sitting behind the counter with a smile on her face.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

I couldn't understand a thing she said, so I looked at her questionably. 

" _I do not speak English,_ " I said with a frown.

"Uhh..." She said with a confused look on her face.

" _I'm from Italy, I speak Italian._ " I responded, hoping she would understand me.

I'm pretty sure she caught the words 'Italy' and 'Italian', because she nodded and smiled at me.

"Nico Di Angelo?" she asked. I nodded. She picked up the telephone and dialed a number. I could not hear the conversation, but a few moments later another woman appeared.

" _Hello, I am Mrs. Aggio, the Italian teacher here at Artemis Prep High School, The school wanted you to be comfortable here in a new country surrounded by non-Italian speakers, so they hired me as a teacher for you and to give the other students an opportunity to learn Italian!_ " she smiled kindly at me.

" _U-uh Hello, I'm Nico..._ "

She then turned to the front desk lady and started talking. I couldn't understand anything they were saying, so I took a minute to look at my surroundings. Everywhere there were teenagers milling around and chatting with each other. Once or twice I would look at someone and find them looking at me, then whispering to their friends.

" _Okay Nico, Ms. Smith will give you your locker number and schedule,_ " Ms. Smith handed me two pieces of paper, one smaller than the other. " _Your first class is homeroom. You have 13 minutes before it starts, so I will be giving you a tour of the school until then, okay?_ "

" _Okay._ " I nodded, fixing my backpack straps to make it more comfortable.

" _Right this way then._ " She smiled, leading me down the corridor as I waved kindly at Ms. Smith.

This school was beautiful, I will admit. The marble floors and lovely chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It gave off this kind homely feel, and I didn't know why.

" _Okay, to the right is the bathrooms, boys on the right and girls on the left. To the left is the English class room, farther down the hall is the cafeteria, next to the cafeteria is math..._ " She was naming off many class rooms that were down this corridor. But after a few classrooms were named off, I stopped paying attention.


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

After a few more minutes of Mrs. Aggio showing me around she stopped outside a door labeled Mrs. Jones.

 _"This is your homeroom, and where I leave you. Your locker is right down the corridor. I will see you in Italian class!_ " She smiled at me before leaving. I looked at the clock hung up on the wall and saw it was 8:25; 5 minutes until homeroom started. I took a minute to memorize my schedule.

Period 1- Algebra 1  
Period 2- Art  
Period 3- Italian  
Lunch Period with 10 minute free time  
Period 4- Science  
Period 5- English/History  
Period 6- Gym/P.E

Lucky for me, the teacher was nice enough to type this in Italian.

I slowly opened the door to homeroom to see that only one student was in there. It was a girl with blonde hair and unique grey eyes, who had a book in her hands. A bored expression was set on her face, as she passed the time by reading. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she had a leather necklace with several clay beads on it. She looked up for barely even 2 seconds before she continued reading her book.

"Oh, hello, I didn't hear you come in. You must be Nico!" The teacher called in English from her desk. I didn't understand all of what she said, but I did catch 'must be Nico'.

"Am N-Nico." I stuttered, hoping I said the right thing in English.

"Okay, you may go take a seat next to Annabeth Chase." She smiled, pointing to the blonde girl. I stood puzzled for a moment until I heard the girl sitting down speak up.

" _I'm Annabeth Chase. Mrs. Jones wants you to sit her by me, okay?_ " She smiled as she spoke, surprisingly, in Italian.

"Okay." I nodded, making my way over to the empty seat beside her. Right after I sat down, the bell rang and a bunch of other teenagers piled in, trying to find empty seats. One boy, green eyes and the same kind of leather bead necklace as Annabeth, stood in the middle of the front of the class, looking quizzically at Annabeth and I. I felt a little uncomfortable, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"It's only for today, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth stated in English before pointing to a seat up front. I didn't know what she had said, but the boy huffed and sat down in the seat she had pointed to earlier.

" _His name is Percy Jackson, and he usually sits where you're sitting._ " She told me.

" _Does he want me to move?_ " I asked, not wanting to make Percy upset. Annabeth just laughed.

" _He'll live._ " I nodded, and took out my notepad. I started to doodle on it, drawings lying haphazard across the sheet of paper.

"Good morning, class! Today, we have a new student, Nico di Angelo!" Mrs. Jones had said, in a sing-songy voice of words I couldn't understand.

So I continued to doodle. 

"Nico, will you stand up, please?" She asked. I looked up at the sound of my name, not getting what she was asking to do.

" _Stand up is what she's asking._

"Nico, where are you from?" Mrs. Jones asked, smiling patiently at me.

" _Where are you from?_ " Annabeth whispered.

"R-Roma, Italia." I replied quietly, not quite looking at anyone.

"Ooh, interesting," Mrs. Jones said to the class, before moving on. "When is your birthday?" 

" _When is your birthday?_ " Annabeth translated, and I was grateful to be sitting next to someone who could translate to Italian.

"G-Gennaio 28," I stuttered quietly once again, shifting from foot to foot.

"He said January 28th." Annabeth told the teacher, and I expected she said my birthday in English, judging by how the teacher nodded.

"Thank you Nico, I hope you enjoy your time at Artemis Prep." The teacher smiled.

" _You can sit down now._ " Annabeth told me, gesturing to my seat.

" _Thank you, Annabeth,_ " I told her gratefully, sitting down.

" _No problem._ " she smiled, turning back towards the teacher.

Mrs. Jones started talking about things I expected to be school related, before she let everyone talk amongst themselves. The boy from earlier, Percy I think, can over to our row and started to talk to Annabeth.

"Annabeth, do you think he-?" Percy asked, glancing at me. Naturally, I couldn't understand a word he was saying, so I kept drawing.

"Percy! We only talk about this in private, even if this school is for- you know, for us- there still might be you-know-who's here!" She sounded exasperated, and by the tone of her voice, I could tell she was very annoyed. Then, Annabeth looked around and dropped her voice to a whisper. 

"I really don't think so anyway, Percy. He seems like a normal Italian guy!" I caught 'Italian' while she was talking, and immediately perked up with curiosity.

Oh God, where were my manners? I forgot to introduce myself properly. If Bianca was here, she would have pestered me about it. I stood up quickly and kissed both of Percy's cheeks. (Bianca always found it cute that I used the more 'feminine' way to greet people.)

" _I'm Nico._ " I told him, sitting down. Percy looked so surprised that he just stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape. But soon, a blush appeared lightly on his face.

"Wha- what was that for?!" Percy turned to Annabeth quickly, looking for answers. But, she was trying really hard not to laugh. I didn't know why, though. 

"P-Percy," she breathed out, erupting with laughter. "T-that's how y-you greet people in I-Ita-Italy!" She was turning highly hysteric now, and I still looked questionably at Annabeth.

" _What did I do, Annabeth? Why are you laughing at me?_ " I asked, confused and now growing more and more flustered.

" _Here, Nico, we don't greet people that way. Doing that is saved for showing affection to someone you love._ " Her grin only widened a fracture, but I became more flustered anyway. Oh God, what did I do?

" _I'm so sorry, Percy, I didn't mean- I didn't know- Oh, my God!_ " I was a complete and utter stuttering mess, embarrassed blush and all.

After Percy stared at me with a faint blush still on his face, Annabeth noticed and started to explain what I had said. "He's apologizing, Seaweed Brain." She tried to suppress another smile, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Oh." Percy stated dumbly, before continuing with, "I-it's fine man, don't worry about it."

" _He says it's okay,_ " Annabeth translated. As I nodded in understanding, the bell rang.

" _Nico, what class do you have next?_ " Annabeth asked, as I gathered up all of my stuff.

I thought back before homeroom started, before answering with, " _Maths, I think."_

" _Huh, Percy and I have math, too. Let's go together?"_

" _Okay,_ " I nodded again, " _Thanks._ "

First day in a new school, and in a new country, and I already have 2 possible friends. That might be a start.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Math class: starring confused and mathematically inept Nico di Angelo. Guest starring: Annabeth Chase, Percy jackson, and embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

After Homeroom, Annabeth, Percy, and I walked to Math together. I wasn't particularly good at maths when I went to my old school in Italy, so maths here was not very easy for me. But, I'm lucky to have Annabeth there to help me with it. She is very smart. Like, very very smart. While we were in Math class, every so often I would catch Percy looking at me, but he would look away when he saw me catch him.

When the teacher assigned homework I kind of freaked out a bit, but I guess I would have to ask Annabeth to help me with it. Jeeze, she probably thinks I'm super clingy. So, to not bother her, I thought I would just try to complete it by myself. Or, I could call Luca. Luca was my best and only friend when I lived in Italy. He had messy and dark brown hair, with dark violet eyes to match. He's only a year older than me, but I feel like I'm really the older one sometimes. Luca lived in Naples, Italy, and we saw each other every other weekend when I lived in Rome. Luca was energetic and a pretty happy guy, like I was while Bianca was still around. But before I left for America, I gave him my L'invasione Delgi Omni Verdi jumper. LDOV was one of our favourite bands to listen to. Anyways, I could call Luca to help me with my homework.

While I was thinking of contacting Luca, Annabeth was speaking to Percy while I worked on a math problem. I could tell that Annabeth and him were probably dating, from the looks of it. They always hang out together, but it also seems like a lot of people know them as well.

Soon after that, the bell rang signaling that the period was over. Luckily, I only had 2 problems left over to do, which was good news to me. I did 3 problems l, but if I'm being honest, Annabeth did most of them because I didn't get it. But, I did have Art next period, which was a relief to me. I've almost always loved to draw. After Bianca died, all I drew was her. But after a while, I started to draw other things and other people. I felt better then, not as sad anymore.

One of the people I drew other than Bianca was Luca, really. One time he found my sketch book and saw all of my drawings of him, which embarrassed me to no end. I thought he would freak out and stop being my friend, but he just laughed and complimented my drawing skills. Then he asked if he could keep one. I was pretty red with embarassment by then, but of course I managed to tell him yes, and let him pick any one he liked. Luca ended up picking the drawing I drew of both of us, and he's kept it since.

" _You have Art after this, right?_ " Annabeth asked me, making me snap out of my train of thought. I nodded.

" _I do,_ " I confirmed, adding, " _Thanks for all of your help, by the way. If you weren't here, I don't think I would have understood anything._ "

" _No problem, Nico. It's fresh._ " She responded. I sat there for a second, confused. Annabeth must have not been as fluent as I thought she was.

Since Art was my next period, I had to go to my locker to grab everything for it. The school provided me with supplies I needed, but I didn't know why. My family isn't filthy rich or anything, but we weren't out or dangerously low on money. I told Annabeth I was going to my locker, and in reply she nodded, then when back to her conversation she was having with Percy. I walked out to the empty corridor where my locker was supposed to be, trying to locate it quickly.

I took out the small piece of paper that Ms. Smith gave me. It had my locker number, what time school both starts and ends, and oddly enough, where the school counselor's office was. The weird thing was, the only thing not printed on the paper was the location of the counselor. It was written like an afterthought, if that made sense. 

I sighed. My mother must have asked for them to put that down for me. I swear, that woman thinks I'm unstable. Well... Yeah, no. I already have to take 4 pills a day and see a shrink twice a week, I don't think I need to go to the counselor's office, either.

My locker number was 713, and the combination was 4-8-5-8. It was easy to remember, so I kept repeating the numbers until I felt like I could remember them. I started walking to the left, hoping that it was the right way to go. I passed the bathrooms, and then my English classroom. Soon enough, I saw two walls parallel with each other that were lockers.

I started looking on the left side, the first locker being 700. It was followed by 702, 704, and so on. At the end, the last two lockers pressed together were 712 and 714. Bingo. I walked over to the right side then, seeing the first locker from the end was 713, my locker. It was bright yellow. It was unlike every other locker there, the colours ranging from red to white, and even some more. Some of them were outlined in purple or orange, too. In the corridor of coloured lockers, mine was next to the only one painted dark blue. Now that I think about it, there was only one other dark blue locker down the hall. 

I spun the number lock to match my combination. I grabbed the Artemis Prep tote bag in the locker and zipped it open. It had two packs of pencils, regular and mechanical, coloured pencils and some other stuff I would need for my classes, like notebooks and stuff. I grabbed all of my art supplies and then stuffed the tote back in my locker, heading in the direction Art was. Or, at least where I thought it would be.

\-----

After walking down the corridor for 5 minutes and seeing that the Art room was not in sight, I just gave up and started walking to the front office. I wondered how long I would have to keep asking people for help, until I could navigate the halls myself, or answer some stupid maths questions. I hopefully thought I would know my way around the building by the second week of school. Hopefully.

Once I made it to the front office, I picked up my walking pace. Mrs. Smith was seated exactly where she was last time I was here. She looked up when I was almost to the desk, surprised.

"Why are you not in class?" She asked. It took me a minute to figure out what she was saying, but I got a good idea.

"...Don't know." I replied slowly. Man, this sucks. I felt a little proud when she looked like she understood, though.

"Paper?" She asked, and I handed her my schedule. She looked at it, and then to her watch, and then nodded and handed it back to me. She then tapped 3 numbers on the phone next to her and picked it up.

"Can I please get Travis Stoll to the office? Travis Stoll. Thank you." Mrs. Smith then put down back the phone.

She looked to me again, saying, "Someone is coming to get you," I didn't understand it all, but I nodded anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: you can actually tell that i wrote this and not the person im working on this with because its nice paragraphs youre welcome


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dialogue in italics=italian

I sat in the office for about two minutes until a boy came rushing down the corridor. He had rustic brown hair and brown eyes to match. He looked quite elfish and... I don't know, a boopable nose? It was thin and pointed, but rounded on the end. I don't really know. I don't really know why I was even thinking about it.

As he ran, I saw that his uniform looked like it was put on in a rush. He wore a orange t-shirt instead of the issues one, and had a leather bead necklace with clay beads around his neck. Every kid had a leather beaded necklace or a tattoo on their forearm. I found it odd.

"Travis, this is Nico. He only speaks Italian, and doesn't know any English. Do you think you can take him to Art since Mrs. Aggio has a class right now?" Mrs. Smith asked from the front desk. He looked at me and then nodded.

"Sure, if I don't have to do tonight's math homework." Travis gave her a mischievous smirk and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't push it, Stoll." She gave Travis a glare before continuing, "Don't get him in trouble either, okay?" 

"Okay." He smiled impishly and put his hands up defensively. Mrs. Smith just smiled at you and then went back to typing something out on the computer next to her.

" _I'm Travis, Travis Stoll. I'll be taking you to art._ " He told me, and it was in fluent Italian. Annabeth spoke Italian, but she stuttered and messed up her words sometimes. Travis sounded like he was actually Italian.

" _..I'm Nico._ " I replied quietly, twisting my skull necklace on my finger. He nodded, telling me to follow him down the hall.

I followed him down some corridors and up a flight of stairs in silence before he initiated conversation.

" _So, you got any interests?_ " Travis asked suddenly, and I nodded my head slightly.

" _I... Like to draw._ "

" _Cool. I like to prank people with my brother, Connor._ " He smiled proudly, before asking, " _So, what part of Italy did you live in before coming to America?_ "

" _Rome. Before... I...._ " I trailed off, forcing myself to not think about that. His eyes widened and he studied my face, before simply nodding.

He continued walking down the hall before he stopped in front of a brightly colored door. The top had a name tag that said 'Mrs. Stella' in big, readable handwriting. My dyslexia never made it easy to read, but this made it almost perfect.

" _This is the Art room. Just a tip before you go in; Mrs. Stella is a bit of a whoohoo._ " He said, before making a swirl in the air next to his head. 

" _Thank you,_ " I waved a feint goodbye before he walked away with a smile on his lips.

I opened the colorful door to hear the buzz of multiple voices talking all at once. As I looked around the classroom, I noticed that the whole room was decked out with rainbow-colored decor. There were almost nowhere that wasn't covered with rainbows (which I did not want to comment on, by the way) besides the students. They were all working on a project, apparently. It must have been difficult because they didn't even look up when I entered the classroom, even the person who I assumed was Mrs. Stella. She was sitting in the back of the classroom, a bright desk in front of her.

I walked over to the brightly colored desk slowly. She was sitting in a chair I could only describe as a rolly chair, reading a book. She didn't seem to notice me, so I cleared my throat and twisted my skull ring. She looked up quickly, and then smiled widely.

"Hello! You're Nico, right? I'm Mrs Stella, the art teacher!" She told me, somehow smiling even wider than before. I vaguely picked out a few words about me, so I just nodded after she stopped talking.

"Welcome, welcome! You can go have a seat next to..." she trailed off as she scanned the room for an empty chair before her eyes landed on a girl with long, dark brown hair who was working alone on the project. "Ah, you can go sit next to Reyna." Mrs. Stella nodded towards the girl, and she looked up at the sound of her name, puzzled.

I could only decipher the phrase, "-go sit by" barely, so I slowly walked over to a desk that was right next to the girl, Reyna. She studied me for a second, before she went back to working at the task in front of her.

"E-eh... W-what... Do w...We... Do?" I asked slowly, stumbling over most of the words I spoke. Even though it was English, I was still quieter than I wanted to be.

Staring at me blankly, she said, "Draw a landscape of your favorite place to be." I couldn't make out anything that she was saying. Reyna looked at my face and sighed, before lifting up her drawing and showing it to me.

It depicted a large field where equipment was being passed out. There were spears and swords, bows and arrows. It was honestly very impressive.

I still didn't understand what we were supposed to do. I nodded anyways. 

She took her paper back to continue drawing, while I myself took out a blank sheet to start mine.

About 30 minutes passed until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I looked over my drawing. I thought it was pretty cool. 

I had decided to draw where I go when I dream. It seems weird, but for some reason, it's comforting... in a weird way. When I sleep I always end up in front of a huge, looming black castle. It has the most beautiful garden outside of it, growing what seemed to be the best pomegranate trees I've ever seen. Who knew pomegranate trees, out of everything, could look so awe inspiring? But, standing outside with me, was a ginormous 3-headed dog that loomed above about 30 feet. I think that's the dreams way of making it more mythical.

After that, I packed up my stuff, deciding to take my drawing with me. I had put a lot of detail in it, and it was by far my best one, so I would probably hang it on my wall. My walls were almost bare, spare for a few random photographs or two. I didn't know anyone yet and I probably wouldn't have anyone come over, so it's not like I had anybody to impress.

I grabbed my bag and stood up, heading out into the hallway where it bustled with noise from the other students. I had Italian next (thank the Gods), so I had to drop off everything I didn't need and grab everything I did need. 

I started to walk to my locker when I saw that Percy was standing next to it, where I presumed to be his own locker. I felt my cheeks heat up lightly, so I shook my head and just kept walking. When I got to my locker, I spun the combination until it clicked and it opened. I set everything I would not need inside, then took out other items like my notebook and a few pencils. Closing my locker, I turned to see Percy staring at me.

"Hi, Nico." He said, smiling crookedly. 

"H-hi, Percy..." I said, stuttering. Why was I asking so flustered around him?

"Do you have music next?" Percy asked. I paused, before shaking my head. Have and music stood out to me, so I took a long shot and guessed that he asked if i had music next.

"Italian n...next."

"Oh." He deflated a bit, frowning, until someone called his name. Perking up, he waved goodbye, a "Bye, Nico," going with it. After that, he jogged away, and I sighed. 

As I approached the classroom for my Italian class, I thanked the gods that there was a 3 minute break between classes. Back in Italy, it was a little different. Then again, I did spend most of that 3 minutes pacing through hallways trying to find Italian. Lucky me, though, because I wasn't even late. Other people were trickling through the open door as well. 

I hurriedly walked through the door to see multiple other students taking their seats, while a few others milled around, getting other essential materials. I quickly and silently sped to the back, taking the seat closest to the window. Once the bell rang and everyone was seated, Mrs. Aggio started class by standing up, and smiling. 

"Good morning, class," she said, speaking in my native tongue. We all replied with a somewhat loud "buon gigorno".

"To start class we're having a..." she paused for dramatic effect, "Pop Quiz!" A chorus of groans broke out, but her smile didn't falter one bit. 

She continued on, "I will say a phrase in English or Italian, and you have to translate! It will be loads of fun!"

While everyone seemed to grimace, she started with, "Okay, how about... Pass me my sword, please." deciphering it was no simple matter, but I guess my studying of English actually payed off, because I understood what she had said, roughly. Though... 'Pass me my sword, please'? That was kind of weird.

Translating that would be tricky. I picked out the easy words, trying to construct them into a decent sentence in my head. I hated the English language so much.

"Remember kids, this is a Pop Quiz, so I'll be calling on you randomly!" Everyone who had their hand up sighed and their hands dropped to the surface of their desks.

Mrs. Aggio scanned everyone's faces, before her eyes finally landed on me. Shit.

" _Nico, could you translate for us?_ " Of course. I sighed, nodding my head. 

" _Pass me my... sword.... Please._ " I had rushed through, just trying to get out of being the center of attention. I wasn't all about that. 

" _Very well, as expected! Thank you, Nico._ " she thought for a second, before adding in English, "Oh, before I forget, everyone, this is Nico di Angelo, our new student! He's from Italy, and this is his first year in America. Please welcome him." Unexcited applaud broke out, and I sank into my seat. 

Then, she picked up with the Pop Quiz, more phrases belted out for other people to answer. Afterwards, she smiled, and started to hand out sheets for us to do. She told me that she made opposites for everything that I needed to complete. So what they had in Italian, I had in English. Great.

After putting my name at the top, I scanned the page. The first word was 'centauro'. That was most definitely one of the hardest. After pondering for a while, I chuckled quietly and wrote 'centaur' on the line next to it.

Next, was cane. I wrote down dog for that one. I proceeded like this until I had written water for acqua, nymph for ninfa, fire for fuoco, sword for spada... Yeah, it went on like that. It then just fell into easy things to translate like colors. Mixed in, though, was Idra (Hydra in English). It was odd, but it was words that I had down almost pretty solidly. 

When I finished, I walked to the front and turned it in. Other people followed. I saw a girl's paper was much more complex than mine. 

Right as I got back to my seat, the next bell rang, signaling the end of class. Packing up, I felt a tight ball of anxiety pooling in my stomach.

Next, I had Lunch.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this when i was terrible at writing and i really regret everything but here, have it
> 
> /b y e


End file.
